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The  Presidency  of  Columbia 


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The  Presidency  of  Columbia 


From  the  Annual  Report  made  to  the  Trustees 
November  3,  1921 


BY 
PRESIDENT  BUTLER 


NEW  YORK 

PRINTED  FOR  THE  UNIVERSITY 
1922 


The  Presidency  of  Columbia 

The  presidency  of  Columbia  is  an  office  with  a  long 
and  honorable  history.  The  original  Charter  of  1754 
empowers  the  Governors  of  King's  College,  or  the  major 
part  of  them,  "to  elect,  nominate  and  appoint  any  person 
to  be  president  of  the  said  College  in  a  vacancy  of  the  said 
presidentship  for  and  during  his  good  behaviour  provided 
always  such  president  elect  or  to  be  elected  by  them  be 
a  member  of  and  in  communion  with  the  Church  of 
England  as  by  law  established." 

It  was  apparently  the  plan  of  those  who  drafted  this 
Charter  that  the  President  should  himself  be  the  chief 
teacher  in  the  College,  and  that  all  other  teachers  were 
to  be  regarded  as  his  assistants,  since  this  provision 
immediately  follows: 

"And  also  to  elect  one  or  more  Fellow  or  Fellows  Professor 
or  Professors  Tutor  or  Tutors  to  assist  the  President  of  the 
said  College  in  the  education  and  government  of  the  students 
belonging  to  the  said  College  which  Fellow  or  Fellows  Professor 
or  Professors  Tutor  or  Tutors  and  every  one  of  them  shall 
hold  and  enjoy  their  said  office  or  place  either  at  the  will  and 
pleasure  of  the  Governors  of  the  said  corporation  or  during 
his  or  their  good  behaviour  according  as  shall  be  agreed  upon 
between  such  Fellow  or  Fellows  Professor  or  Professors  Tutor 
or  Tutors  and  the  said  Governors  of  the  said  College." 

The  Charter  of  1787,  granted  by  the  Legislature  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  ratines  and  confirms  the  Royal 
Charter  of  1754,  with  the  exception  of  certain  named 
provisions  of  that  Charter,  including  that  which  rendered 
a  person  ineligible  to  the  office  of  president  of  the  College 
on  account  of  his  religious  tenets. 

The  later  and  final  Charter  of  1810,  being  Chapter  85 

3 


470683 


4  THE     PRESIDENCY     OF     COLUMBIA 

of  the  Laws  of  the  State  of  New  York  of  that  year,  con- 
tinues the  corporate  existence  of  the  College  and  the 
office  of  president  as  already  established. 

The  Presidents  of  King's  College,  Columbia  College 
and  Columbia  University  have  been  twelve  in  number. 

The  first  president,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  has 
properly  been  described  as  one  of  the  notable  men  of  his 
time  in  America.  He  probably  ranks  next  after  Jonathan 
Edwards  and  Benjamin  Franklin,  as  the  most  eminent 
American  scholar  of  the  i8th  century.  Born  at  Guilford, 
Connecticut,  in  1696  and  graduated  from  the  College  at 
Saybrook,  now  Yale  University,  in  1714,  Dr.  Johnson 
served  as  tutor  in  Yale  for  three  years.  After  short  service 
as  a  Congregational  minister  he  went  to  England  and  took 
orders  as  a  minister  of  the  Church  of  England.  Shortly 
after  he  returned  to  America  and  settled  at  Stratford, 
Connecticut,  as  a  missionary  of  the  Society  for  the  Propa- 
gation of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts.  He  received  the 
honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  Oxford 
University  in  1743,  and  Benjamin  Franklin  personally 
urged  upon  him  acceptance  of  an  invitation  to  become 
first  president  of  the  College  at  Philadelphia,  now  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania.  Benjamin  Franklin  was  the 
printer  of  Dr.  Johnson's  books  on  Logic  and  Ethics,  and 
was  his  friend  and  frequent  correspondent.  President 
Johnson  associated  himself  with  the  movement  to  es- 
tablish King's  College  early  in  the  year  1754,  an<^  upon 
the  passage  of  the  Charter  became  first  president,  which 
post  he  held  until  March  I,  1763.  He  lived  until  January 
6,  1772,  and  was  buried  in  the  chancel  of  Christ  Church, 
Stratford,  Connecticut. 

Dr.  Johnson  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Myles  Cooper, 
Fellow  of  Queen's  College,  Oxford,  who  although  but 
twenty-eight  years  of  age,  was  highly  recommended  by 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  for  his  learning  and  charac- 


THE     PRESIDENCY     OF     COLUMBIA  5 

ter.  President  Cooper  was  also  appointed  to  be  Pro- 
fessor of  Moral  Philosophy.  Owing  to  controversies 
incident  to  the  outbreak  of  the  American  Revolution, 
which  incidents  form  a  very  interesting  part  of  the  history 
of  Columbia,  President  Cooper  beat  a  precipitate  retreat 
on  May  10,  1775,  and  never  returned  to  America.  He 
was  appointed  to  be  Clergyman  of  the  English  Chapel, 
Edinburgh,  and  died  there  on  May  20,  1785.  He  is  buried 
in  the  Churchyard  of  Restalrig,  about  two  miles  from 
Edinburgh. 

The  third  president  was  William  Samuel  Johnson,  son 
of  the  first  President  of  King's  College,  and  probably 
the  first  layman  ever  to  be  chosen  administrative  head  of 
an  institution  of  higher  learning  in  either  Great  Britain 
or  the  United  States.  Born  at  Stratford,  Connecticut, 
in  1728,  William  Samuel  Johnson  was  graduated  from 
Yale  in  1744.  He  was  trained  for  the  law,  and  his  pro- 
fessional and  public  services  are  well  known.  It  is  recorded 
that  he  instructed  the  students  in  the  grammar  and  proper 
pronunciation  of  the  English  language.  Perhaps  his  most 
eminent  public  service  was  as  delegate  to  the  Convention 
which  framed  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
While  President  of  Columbia,  William  Samuel  Johnson 
served  as  United  States  Senator  from  Connecticut,  and 
with  Oliver  Ellsworth  framed  the  bill  establishing  the 
federal  judiciary  system,  substantially  as  it  now  is.  When 
the  sittings  of  Congress  were  removed  from  New  York 
to  Philadelphia,  President  Johnson  resigned  as  Senator. 
He  received  the  degree  of  D.C.L.  from  Oxford  in  1776. 
He  resigned  as  president  on  July  16,  1800,  and  retired  to 
Stratford,  Connecticut,  where  he  died  in  1819  at  the  ripe 
age  of  93.  He  is  buried  in  Christ  Churchyard,  Stratford. 

The  fourth  president  was  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  H.  Wharton, 
Rector  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  Burlington,  New  Jersey. 
He  was  born  in  St.  Mary's  County,  Maryland,  1748,  and 


6  THE     PRESIDENCY     OF     COLUMBIA 

was  educated  at  the  Jesuits'  College  at  St.  Omer.  He 
took  orders  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  but  later 
adopted  the  views  of  the  Church  of  England.  For  eight 
years  he  served  as  a  trustee  of  Princeton.  President 
Wharton's  service  at  Columbia  was  almost  nominal,  since 
having  been  elected  on  May  25,  1801,  he  retired  on  De- 
cember 1 1  of  the  same  year,  having  concluded  to  remain 
with  his  Burlington  parish.  President  Wharton  was 
highly  regarded  as  a  scholar,  and  had  great  influence 
among  the  clergy  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 
He  died  on  July  23,  1833,  as  Rector  of  St.  Mary's  Church, 
Burlington,  New  Jersey,  and  is  buried  in  the  church- 
yard there. 

Following  President  Wharton's  resignation,  the  Trustees 
took  action  to  separate  the  office  of  president  from  any 
professorship,  and  provided  that  the  president  should 
thereafter  be  charged  merely  with  the  general  superin- 
tendence of  the  institution.  Upon  the  adoption  of  this 
policy  the  Rt.  Rev.  Benjamin  Moore  of  the  Class  of  1768, 
Bishop  of  New  York,  was  chosen  fifth  president.  Presi- 
dent Moore  had  served  earlier  as  Professor  of  Rhetoric 
and  Logic.  He  was  never  able  to  give  undivided  attention 
to  the  affairs  of  the  College,  and  during  his  official  tenure 
the  duties  of  president  were  largely  performed  by  pro- 
fessors who  served  in  rotation.  The  result  was  so  un- 
satisfactory that  we  find  it  recorded  that  the  friends  of  the 
College  "almost  despaired  of  its  resuscitation."  In  March, 
1811,  President  Moore  resigned.  He  died  on  February 
27,  1816,  and  is  buried  in  Trinity  Churchyard,  New  York. 

Following  the  resignation  of  President  Moore  and  in 
order  to  secure  for  the  College  the  services  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  John  M.  Mason,  a  great  pulpit  orator  and  afterwards 
President  of  Dickinson  College,  the  Trustees  established 
an  administrative  post  additional  to  that  of  president, 
and  really  superior  to  it,  with  the  title  of  Provost.  Dr. 


THE     PRESIDENCY     OF     COLUMBIA  J 

Mason  was  chosen  Provost,  while  the  presidency  went 
to  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Harris,  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
College  in  the  Class  of  1786,  and  Rector  of  St.  Mark's 
Church  in  the  city  of  New  York.  This  plan  did  not  work 
well,  and  Provost  Mason  resigned  in  July,  1816,  after 
which  the  duties  of  Provost  were  merged  in  those  of  the 
President.  President  Harris  served  until  his  death  in 
the  autumn  of  1829.  He  is  buried  in  the  Churchyard  of 
St.  Mark's-in-the-Bouwerie,  New  York  City. 

The  seventh  president  was  William  Alexander  Duer, 
a  man  of  quite  different  type.  President  Duer  was  born 
at  Rhinebeck  in  1780,  and  came  of  one  of  the  best  families 
in  the  Province  of  New  York.  He  had  served  as  Midship- 
man in  the  Navy  under  Decatur,  had  studied  law  with 
Edward  Livingston,  and  had  seen  active  service  in  the 
Legislature  of  New  York,  and  when  elected  President  in 
1829  was  a  Justice  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  State. 
President  Duer  served  through  a  troubled  period  of  the 
institution's  history  until  May  2,  1842,  when  he  resigned 
on  account  of  failing  health.  He  died  on  May  30,  1858, 
and  is  buried  in  the  old  cemetery  behind  the  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Morris  town,  N.  J. 

The  eighth  president,  Nathaniel  F.  Moore  of  the  Class 
of  1802,  was  a  nephew  of  President  Benjamin  Moore. 
He  was  born  at  Newtown,  New  York,  in  1782,  and  after 
his  graduation  from  Columbia  studied  law  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  Bar.  A  few  years  later  he  became  Adjunct 
Professor  of  Greek  and  Latin  in  Columbia  College,  and 
then  Professor  of  those  languages,  which  chair  he  held 
for  fifteen  years.  After  several  years  spent  in  travel  in 
Europe  and  the  Orient,  Dr.  Moore  returned  to  New  York 
and  was  elected  President  to  succeed  Mr.  Duer.  He  re- 
signed the  presidency  in  1849,  and  lived  in  retirement 
until  1872,  when  he  died  at  the  great  age  of  90  years.  He 
is  buried  in  the  Churchyard  of  St.  Mark's-in-the-Bouwerie, 


8  THE     PRESIDENCY     OF     COLUMBIA 

New  York.  The  first  historical  sketch  of  Columbia  Col- 
lege was  written  by  President  Nathaniel  F.  Moore  and 
published  in  1849. 

The  ninth  president,  Dr.  Charles  King,  was,  like  Presi- 
dent Duer,  a  man  of  high  position  and  large  influence  in 
the  social  and  public  life  of  New  York.  He  was  a  son  of 
Rufus  King,  born  in  New  York  City  in  1789.  He  was 
educated  at  Harrow,  at  Oxford  and  at  Paris.  After  some 
years  spent  in  business  and  in  journalism  he  was  chosen 
to  the  presidency  of  Columbia  in  1849.  He  resigned  his 
office  on  March  7,  1864,  and  went  to  live  abroad.  Dr. 
King  died  at  Frascati  in  1867,  and  is  buried  in  the  Church- 
yard of  the  Episcopal  Church,  Jamaica,  Long  Island. 

Dr.  King  was  succeeded  by  Frederick  A.  P.  Barnard, 
who  was  born  in  Sheffield,  Massachusetts,  in  1809,  and 
graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1828.  Dr.  Barnard's  career 
in  the  Universities  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi  is  well 
known.  He  was  a  scholar  of  national  and  international 
reputation  and  accomplishment  before  his  election  to  be 
President  of  Columbia  in  1864.  He  was  a  prophet  and  a 
seer  in  the  field  of  education,  and  his  farseeing  vision 
anticipated  many  of  the  happenings  that  have  taken 
place  since  his  death.  He  died  in  1889  and  is  buried  in  a 
chapel  erected  by  the  Trustees  of  the  University  at  Shef- 
field, Massachusetts. 

Following  the  death  of  Dr.  Barnard,  and  having  in 
mind  the  need  of  closely  relating  the  work  of  Columbia  to 
the  city  of  New  York,  the  Trustees  chose  as  president 
Seth  Low  of  the  Class  of  1870,  a  man  rather  of  the  type 
of  President  Duer  and  President  King  than  of  President 
Barnard.  President  Low  took  up  vigorously  the  question 
of  organizing  Columbia  as  a  university  to  attack  the 
problems  that  were  before  it,  and  of  rebuilding  it  upon  a 
new  and  adequate  site  where  it  would  find  a  permanent 
home.  In  eleven  years  these  tasks  were  accomplished, 


THE     PRESIDENCY     OF     COLUMBIA  9 

and  President  Low  resigned  to  accept  nomination  to  be 
Mayor  of  the  city  of  New  York.  After  serving  a  term 
in  that  important  office,  Mr.  Low  occupied  himself 
actively  with  matters  of  public  concern  until  his  death 
at  the  age  of  66  in  1916.  Mr.  Low  is  buried  in  Greenwood 
Cemetery,  Brooklyn. 

The  twelfth  president  was  designated  acting  president 
in  succession  to  Mr.  Low  on  October  2,  1901,  and  was 
elected  President  on  January  6,  1902. 

It  appears  that  of  the  twelve  presidents,  six  have 
been  clergymen  and  six  (President  Barnard  being  reck- 
oned as  a  layman)  have  been  laymen,  an  exceptional  fact 
in  the  history  of  higher  education  in  English-speaking 
lands  during  the  i8th  and  I9th  centuries.  Of  the  twelve, 
four  were  graduates  of  Columbia,  three  of  Yale,  one  of 
Harvard,  and  one  of  Oxford,  while  three,  namely  Presi- 
dents Wharton,  Duer  and  King,  are  not  known  to  have 
completed  an  undergraduate  college  course. 

The  duties  of  the  President  of  Columbia  have  strangely 
changed"  since  the  office  was  established.  None  of  the 
duties  that  devolved  immediately  upon  President  Samuel 
Johnson  are  now  performed  by  his  successor.  Very  few 
of  the  duties  and  responsibilities  that  were  directly  borne 
by  President  Barnard,  or  even  by  President  Low,  are 
now  borne  by  their  successor.  These  duties  are  performed 
by  the  various  Deans  and  Directors  and  by  other  chief 
administrative  officers  among  whom  they  have  been 
divided.  The  President  of  the  University  is  now  occupied 
almost  entirely  with  problems  newly  arisen  out  of  new 
developments  and  new  conditions.  He  must  live  largely 
in  the  future,  and  must  concern  himself  chiefly  with 
those  major  policies  and  acts  that  affect  the  prosperity, 
the  influence  and  the  prestige  of  the  institution  as  a 
whole.  His  duties  may  best  be  stated  in  terms  of  the 
English  political  system  as  those  of  prime  minister  holding 


IO  THE     PRESIDENCY     OF     COLUMBIA 

the  portfolios  of  foreign  affairs  and  of  the  treasury.  As 
to  all  matters  of  internal  administration  the  President 
is  the  counsellor  and  adviser  of  those  to  whom  these 
duties  are  directly  entrusted.  In  the  strict  sense  of  the 
word,  the  administrative  head  of  Columbia  University  is 
neither  a  college  president  nor  even  a  university  president; 
he  is  President  of  Columbia  University.  His  duties  and 
occupations  are  unique  because  Columbia  is  unique. 


THE     PRESIDENCY     OF     COLUMBIA  II 

PORTRAITS   OF  THE    PRESIDENTS   OF   COLUMBIA 

I.   SAMUEL  JOHNSON 

Painted  before  1757,  when  it  was  presented  to  King's 

College. 

In  Trustees'  Room,  University  Library 

II.   MYLES  COOPER 

Painted  in  1768-9  by  John  Singleton  Copley. 

In  Trustees'  Room,  University  Library 
Second  copy          In  Dining-room,  President's  House 

III.  WILLIAM  SAMUEL  JOHNSON 

Copy  by  S.  L.  Waldo  of  original  painted  in  1792  by 
Gilbert  Stuart;  owned  by  Mr.  Charles  Frederick 
Johnson  of  Dorchester,  Mass.;  presented  to  Colum- 
bia College  by  the  New  York  Historical  Society  in 

1820. 

In  Trustees'  Room,  University  Library 

IV.  CHARLES  HENRY  WHARTON 

Copy  of  original  in  the  possession  of  St.  Mary's 
Church,  Burlington,  N.  J.,  by  unknown  painter; 
painted  in  1897  by  William  H.  Hyde. 

In  office  of  the  Librarian,  University  Library 
V.   BENJAMIN  MOORE 

By  unknown  painter;  purchased  by  Columbia  Col- 
lege in  1819. 

In  Dining-room,  President's  House 

VI.  WILLIAM  HARRIS 

By  unknown  painter;  painted  in   1819. 

In  office  of  the  President,  University  Library 
VII.  WILLIAM  ALEXANDER  DUER 

Painted  by  Henry  Inman  about  1840. 

In  Trustees'  Room,  University  Library 
Smaller  portrait  by  unknown  painter. 

In  Dining-room,  President's  House 
VIII.   NATHANIEL  FISH  MOORE 

By  unknown  painter;  presented  to  Columbia  College 
in  1835. 

In  office  of  the  President,  University  Library 


12  THE     PRESIDENCY     OF     COLUMBIA 

IX.    CHARLES  KING 

Painted  by  S.  L.  Waldo  and  Charles  C.  Ingham; 
presented  to  Columbia  College  in  1851. 

In  office  of  the  President,  University  Library 

X.   FREDERICK  AUGUSTUS  PORTER  BARNARD 
Painted  by  Eastman  Johnson  in  1886. 

In  Auditorium,  Earl  Hall 

Second  portrait:  painted  by  Franklin  Tuttle  in  1886. 
In  third  floor  corridor,  Students  Hall, 
Barnard  College 
Third  portrait:  by  unknown  painter. 

In  office  of  the  Dean  of  Barnard  College, 

Milbank  Hall 
XI.  SETH  Low 

Painted  by  Daniel  Huntington  in  1899. 

In  Auditorium,  Earl  Hall 
XII.   NICHOLAS  MURRAY  BUTLER 

Painted  by  Frank  D.  Millet  in  1907. 

In  Law  Library,  Kent  Hall 

Second  portrait:  painted  by  Irving  R.  Wiles  in  1907. 
In  University  Library,  University  of  Berlin 
Third  portrait:  painted  by  A.  Muranyi  in  1918. 

In  Dining-room,  President's  House 


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